NOVEL NEXT chapter 16
16 – Grandfather and Grandson
“Edric.”
“Great-grandfather.”
My great-grandfather and I only looked at each other in silence.
It was my great-grandfather who broke the long silence first.
“… How have you been?”
What? Who are you asking about? Of course, I haven’t been doing well. Do I look like I’m doing well, considering my current situation? Are your eyesight getting worse because of your age?
…I couldn’t say that to my great-grandfather and master, so I endured it and answered calmly.
“Yes. Your grandson is doing well. Have you been doing well too, Grandfather?”
But the knight next to my great-grandfather, who didn’t like how I looked, suddenly rebuked me.
“…Eddrich, the Viscount. Although he is a viscount’s grandson, Lord Haden is definitely his master. It’s inappropriate to behave that way in a public place where others can see, not even a private seat.”
“Shut up, Harold.”
For a moment, that bastard almost burst out of my mouth, but thanks to my great-grandfather who quickly covered Harold’s mouth, I managed to keep quiet.
“Who says Eddrich is a viscount? I’ve never recognized Eddrich as a viscount.”
“Ah…!”
Great-grandfather, did you get mad because of my brief answer earlier? Why are you suddenly saying that kind of thing…
Amidst the confusion caused by my great-grandfather’s sudden words, he continued speaking.
“Eddrich is just my grandson. Are you going to educate him to respect you like you do with your grandchildren, Marquis?”
“It’s off topic. I apologize.”
Wow, that guy was a marquis. I almost said something reckless.
In fact, strictly speaking, I am not yet a viscount.
Every heir who succeeds a title must pledge loyalty to their master as soon as they inherit the title. And only after the master receives the heir’s oath of loyalty does the heir truly receive the title.
The reason why this is necessary is not only because the successor needs to renew the vassal contract with the master whose contract was cut off due to the master’s death or change of government but also because this era is the medieval era.
Is there a phone or text message in this era? Even proper postal services don’t exist in this world.
To send a letter in this era, you either have to hire a courier yourself or send it through an influential top. If you send it through the top, the hired mercenaries’ protection will allow the letter to arrive relatively safely, but if you send it directly to the courier, there’s no guarantee that the letter will arrive safely, given the nature of this world where farmers carry hoes and thieves carry knives.
So people usually write the same letter two to three times and send them separately by employing several people. Go well, at least one of you! This is the feeling.
(Despite mistakenly sending a wrong message due to Westburn Viscount’s mistake, Karmus did not notice it. Perhaps the mercenaries had the same mindset that they wouldn’t kill the messenger sent by the employer himself…)
Due to the poor environment for information exchange, manipulating or losing information during the process of exchanging information is common sense.
Even in my previous life, I got along well with people I was familiar with but rarely heard from, but if I received a text message from someone saying “This is the son of the owner of the telephone number. The telephone number owner has passed away,” I would be confused and suspicious of the first message. What would happen in this world, where information is already easily contaminated?
In my past life, I could have just called to confirm the facts when receiving such a letter, but in this era, there is no way to remotely determine the facts.
Receiving a letter stating, “Our father has passed away, so I, as his son, am now a Viscount hehehe,” and casually responding, “Okay, now you’re a Viscount,” seemed to be less credible information than I thought. What if some upstart heir was seizing the title while the father was being locked up somewhere?
So the heir to the title directly goes to find the lord to deliver the formal report. The lord also updates his personal encyclopedia on what happened in the family.
And besides, is it right to simply send a letter to the person who is going to be their lord, saying, “From today, I am a Viscount?” Even in my last life, where many vulgar customs had vanished, acting like that would earn you a reputation as a troublesome youth.
Anyway, when my grandfather suddenly told me I wasn’t a Viscount, I thought he was coming after me, but it turns out, he was supporting me…
Harold, who had been confident of being Viscount after his grandfather, now feeling defeated, stepped back behind his grandfather.
Looking at Harold, who was feeling downcast, my grandfather came over to me and asked, stumbling, “Edric, where is your mother?”
For some reason, my grandfather looked terribly awkward, like a dog with a tummy ache. Even after receiving a letter from his mother, he seemed quite embarrassed to see her for several weeks.
“My mother is in the Chamber. I’ll bring her over soon…”
“Father!”
“..!”
Before I could finish my sentence, I heard my mother’s voice from the gate. Turning around, I saw my mother and my nanny Eileen running over.
“Oh, there they are. Grandfather, um, is this the Chamber?”
“Oh, oh…”
What’s wrong with him?
Seeing my mother, my grandfather became stiff, as if he had received a tremendous shock.
“Grandfather, why are you behaving like this…”
“L-Lailaaahahahaha!!!”
**
“Edric has grown up so much.”
It was Lady Laila’s impression of her only surviving grandchild. He looked ragged, perhaps from the two weeks of hardship, with unkempt hair and deep shadows under his eyes.
Plus, seeing her grandson, who was covered in blood and dust after just coming back from battle, broke Hayden’s heart.
‘If this rascal had come a little earlier…’
Seeing his grandson’s frail appearance, Lord Hayden’s heart grew heavier.
Overwhelmed by guilt, Hayden was about to say something, but ended up talking foolishly.
“Have you been well?”
It wasn’t a sensible question, considering the state his grandson was in, but can it be called a foolish remark? He asked his grandson a difficult question to reply.
“Yes. Grandson is doing well. And you, Grandfather, are you well?”
However, the grandson responded with thoughtfulness, thinking of his grandfather. If it had been his father, he would have scratched his insides and replied, “Sir, does it seem as though I have been doing well?” It seems that he inherited this trait from Laila.
Come to think of it, I heard that his grandson defended the castle in place of his deceased father from the barbarians. I had been worried since I heard that he hadn’t been doing well with his studies and training, but to see that he had magnificently defended both the castle and his family was very impressive.
“The final charge was very dangerous, but…”
When I saw Edric, with his army led, charging against the barbarians alongside the land militia, my heart skipped a beat. Due to the nature of the nomadic people, the Kamus, most of Edric’s army was infantry and they were at risk of being decimated by the cavalry at the slightest misstep.
However, Edric’s charge was fundamentally his late responsibility. Furthermore, looking at the soldiers and the people of the land, they seemed quite famished. Perhaps the supplies within the castle had run out. As Edric, there was no choice but to make that charge while he still had strength.
The Duke was deeply moved by the recklessness of Edric, but instead of criticizing him, he was deeply impressed by the fact that Edric had led not only the mercenaries but also the land militia in the charge. Unlike us fighters, the commoners are a people who produce rather than fight, and to see them laying their lives on the line alongside their lord in the charge was deeply touching. This meant that Edric had built a strong and trusting relationship with the land militia.
“Viscount Gates, you are mistaken. Our Edric is such an outstanding young man…”
As he shed tears quietly, the Earl of Harold pushed himself into the conversation without any tact.
Pushing the Earl of Harold, who dared to interrupt the conversation with his grandson, aside, he asked where his daughter Laila was. This was because he wanted to see the daughter who had gone through as much hardship as his grandson for the past two weeks.
Then, even before his grandson could answer, he heard his daughter’s voice in the distance. Looking quickly in the direction of the voice, he saw his daughter Laila running towards him with a maid.
“Father!”
But Viscount Hayden couldn’t open his arms to greet his long-missed daughter.
“Laila!”
That gruesome look, those deeply sunken cheeks, those arms that were nothing but bones!
His daughter looked so emaciated that it was almost as if she was halfway to being a corpse! (In reality, she wasn’t quite that bad, but that’s how the Duke saw her.)
Seeing his daughter in such a state, the Duke’s heart broke. How could he face his daughter Laila after ignoring her letters and causing her to suffer like this? He had no right to do so.
As a result, he didn’t care about the eyes of those around him and began to wail, shedding tears uncontrollably.
“uuuHHH!!!”
**
“…Grandfather, please calm down…”
I and the people around me tried to stop the Duke, who was crying uncontrollably, clinging to his mother’s legs.
“uuuHHH!!! Laila!!! I’m truly sorry!!!….”
“Father, don’t do this here…”
“If I hadn’t ignored your letter…”
“You ignored my letter?!”
“Ma… madam, please, enough…”
“You are out of your mind! Father, what are you talking about?”
“Ugh, Laila, that’s…”
Harold, who was a somewhat influential figure, became a timid mouse after my mother’s scolding. He seemed a bit brazen just now, but now he looked quite pitiful…
“hahahaha, it’s a mess.”
I witnessed the sight of a duke being scolded by his daughter and resigned myself. My furious mother couldn’t be stopped by anyone.
Amidst that, Satriasha approached me.
“Your Grace… Is that Duke Lurein…?”
“…Yes. I apologize for showing such a state.”
Satriasha seemed greatly shocked upon witnessing the intimate relationship between noble ladies (meta-work).
I smiled at Satriasha and said.
“But don’t you feel like something has come to an end?”
“What do you mean..?”
“The war.”
“Ah…”
Upon hearing my words, Satriasha looked around.
The attendants of the duke, blushing with embarrassment at their master’s appearance.
Eilene, struggling to intervene between her mother and great-grandfather, feeling ashamed.
The people of the territory, forcing smiles while reluctantly laughing at the lively meta-work.
Indeed. It was a sight that couldn’t have been imagined just a few hours ago.
Quietly feeling the cool breeze blowing in the territory, Satriasha eventually smiled too.
“…Yes, indeed. That’s right.”
We faced each other and laughed.
It was summer.